Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

Skeletal muscle mass and radiation attenuation (RA) have been shown to be associated with chemotoxicity and survival in cancer patients. However, little is known about the clinical significance of adipose tissue RA, which has been hypothesized to be associated with tissue inflammation and insulin resistance. We investigated the association between adipose tissue RA, chemotoxicity, and survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) by performing a secondary analysis using data from a randomized controlled trial. We included 104 mCRC patients treated with standard first-line chemotherapy. Using diagnostic abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans, we assessed height adjusted (cm2) area and RA of skeletal muscle (SM), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) at the third lumbar vertebra, and calculated SM index (SMI), VATI, and SATI as cm2/m2 based on stature. Associations between these body composition parameters and overall survival as well as chemotoxicity (NCI-CTCAE v 4.03) were evaluated using univariable and multivariable logistic and Cox regression analysis. Multivariable models evaluated body composition parameters, adjusted for age, sex, and significant clinically relevant covariates. Among the 104 patients in the cohort, 38 were female (36.5%). Mean age was 65.5 ± 9.5 years. 43 patients (41.3%) developed grade 3/4 toxicity. Pre-treatment SAT-RA was independently associated with grade 3/4 toxicities (OR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.62-0.98). Chemotherapy regimens and nutritional support were not associated with chemotoxicity. In the multivariable Cox analysis, SAT-RA (HR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.08-1.43) and SM-RA (HR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.61-0.90) were associated with shorter overall survival. Higher SAT-RA and lower SM-RA at baseline were associated with shorter overall survival of patients with mCRC, and lower SAT-RA was associated with increased chemotoxicity. These body composition alterations should be investigated in future chemotherapy related studies.

Fruits and nuts develop resilient outer shells to safeguard their embryos against environmental hazards and predators. The nuts of the marri tree (Corymbia calophylla) possess unusual strength and toughness. In contrast to other tough nuts, seasoned parrots avoid cracking them and instead resort to drawn-out attempts to snatch their seeds from a dispersal opening at their base. Here, we reveal the subtle strengthening mechanisms of the marri nut and compare its mechanical response and properties to those of other nuts and commercial materials. The analysis involves an extensive examination of the various material phases of the nutshell, the chemical composition of its fibers, and an analysis of its microscopic and macroscopic mechanical properties. The study reveals that, akin to self-standing structures, the interplay of the densely packed fibers of the shell held together by a highly ductile soft matrix, while arranged in a spherical configuration, gives the nut its notable toughness, ductility, strength, and remarkable fracture resistance. Additionally, we design and test the mechanical behavior of a bioinspired interpenetrating phase composite material mimicking the nut's microstructure, demonstrating comparable deformability and toughness. These findings lay a new foundation for designing highly efficient bioinspired structures for energy absorption, protection, and armor.

Digitalization in geriatric rehabilitation presents unique challenges, making it essential to align eHealth solutions with patients' digital skills. The Quickscan Digital Skills (QDS) is a tool designed to help health care professionals match eHealth interventions to individual skill levels. This study aimed to explore the applicability of QDS by comparing it to self-reported digital skills and to gain insight into the digital skills of patients in geriatric rehabilitation. In this multicenter cross-sectional study, participants from 13 geriatric rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands completed a survey, including demographic questions, QDS, and a numeric rating scale (NRS) for self-reported digital skills. Participants were categorized into 3 skill levels (beginner, intermediate, and experienced) based on the cutoff points in QDS scores. Cutoff points were predetermined, guided by the information provided on QDS. Descriptive statistics for median age and frequencies for skill levels were calculated. Comparative analysis using a Kruskal-Wallis test assessed differences between QDS and NRS within these groups, and Spearman rank-order correlation examined the relationship between the two measures. To gain more insight into the different skill levels between groups, data were visualized and associations among age, gender, and digital skill levels were examined using ordinal logistic regression analysis. A total of 463 patients (median age 78, IQR 12 years; 282/463, 60.9% female) participated in this study. Based on QDS scores, 42.1% (195/463) were classified as beginners, 19.4% (90/463) as intermediates, and 38.4% (178/463) as experienced users. A moderate positive correlation was found between QDS and NRS scores. Digital skills generally declined with age: 69.8% (37/53) of participants younger than 65 years were experienced users compared to only 13.2% (5/38) of those older than 91 years. A logistic regression analysis showed that increasing age was significantly associated with lower digital skill levels (odds ratio 0.93, 95% CI 0.92-0.95; P<.001). The association between age and digital skills does not differ between males and females. This study suggests that QDS is a promising and practical screening tool for assessing digital skills in patients in geriatric rehabilitation. Self-reported digital skills with an NRS do not capture the differentiation in the assessed abilities by QDS. QDS could be a practical tool for identifying digital skill levels in patients in geriatric rehabilitation and can support more personalized eHealth implementation. Further research should explore the parametric properties of QDS and how the scores relate to actual eHealth use.

This study examined the relationship between ADHD symptoms and problematic social media use (PSMU) and problematic gaming (PG) in a community sample of emerging adults. Cognitive deficits underlying ADHD - inhibitory control deficits, reward sensitivity, and temporal processing deficits - were investigated as potential mechanisms linking ADHD symptoms to PSMU and PG. In a sample of 111 emerging adults (Mage=21.2, SD = 2.7; 84% female), ADHD symptoms, PSMU, and PG were assessed using self-report scales, while cognitive deficits were evaluated through both self-report scales and behavioural tasks. Parallel mediation analyses revealed significant positive direct effects between ADHD symptoms and both PSMU and PG, but found no significant mediating effects of the hypothesised mechanisms. Exploratory analyses suggested that inhibitory control and temporal processing deficits may play a role in linking hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms to PSMU, and inhibitory control deficits emerged as a possible transdiagnostic factor for concurrent ADHD symptoms and PSMU. Nonetheless, the main analyses did not support mediation by cognitive deficits, indicating no evidence that they explained the associations between ADHD symptoms and problematic digital media use. Future research may explore such prospective mechanisms in longitudinal designs with representative samples to inform interventions which may reduce problematic digital media use in individuals with elevated ADHD symptoms.

ABSTRACT Art inhabits the imagination, but can it influence real‐world issues? While some scholars cast art as autonomous from moral and civic life, others see it as deeply entangled with the social world. We address this debate by synthesizing evidence on art's social influence across literature, music, visual art, and film. We organize findings across four domains—civic engagement, gender equality, intergroup relations, and environmental conservation—and highlight psychological levers through which effects emerge. Our review reveals that art can shape attitudes and behavior, but not always for the greater good. Counter‐stereotypical works and prosocial content often shift norms and broaden moral concerns, while degrading or status‐quo‐affirming content can entrench social divides. We outline priorities for future research: isolating art‐specific effects, probing harmful outcomes, testing the durability and real‐world impact of effects, and developing an integrative framework to clarify when, how, and for whom art moves behavior in the social world.

Background/Objectives: Mindfulness-based interventions show promise for treating childhood ADHD, yet the mechanisms through which they produce effects remain unclear. This study provides the first direct comparison of treatment mechanisms between a mindfulness-based family intervention (MYmind) and methylphenidate. Methods: Data were drawn from a preregistered trial combining randomized and preference arms, comparing MYmind (2-month parallel parent-child mindfulness training) with 4-month methylphenidate in children aged 8-18 with ADHD (N = 120 children, 224 parents). Families were assessed at baseline, 2, 4 and 10 months. Multilevel mediation analyses tested whether treatment effects on ADHD symptoms were transmitted through 111 treatment-to-mediator-to-outcome pathways across three mechanism categories: child emotion regulation and coping (all children); adolescent self-regulation and mindfulness (ages 11+); and parent-level mechanisms, including mindful parenting, parental mindfulness, parenting style and self-compassion. Results: Direct treatment effects favored methylphenidate for ADHD symptom reduction at 4 months, with mindfulness catching up by 10 months. MYmind produced significantly greater improvements than methylphenidate in adolescent healthy self-regulation, parental self-compassion, mindful parenting and over-reactive parenting. Treatment did not differentially affect the remaining mechanisms. Across model sets, observed emotion regulation, maladaptive coping, parental self-compassion and mindful parenting each predicted ADHD outcomes. Across 111 pathways tested in 18 models, numerous significant individual pathways were consistent with theoretical predictions, yet no complete mediation chains reached statistical significance. Conclusions: MYmind engages distinct psychological and family-level processes compared to methylphenidate that are separately associated with ADHD symptom improvement. The absence of significant mediation effects likely reflects power limitations. These findings support mindfulness-based family intervention as a viable alternative to medication and highlight the need for larger-scale mechanism research.

Eduard Bernstein was -and remains -one of the most controversial figures in the history of European Marxism and socialism.For most partisans of the left, he was regarded as the father of "revisionism", ill-fated and ill-reputed.According to Leninist and orthodox Marxist mythology, he poisoned the minds and souls of the proletariat with illusions of reformism, diverting them from the revolutionary path.According to some of his later admirers, Bernstein paved the way for -and even created new prospects for -a genuine social-democratic view and a consistently reformist policy within the labour movement.His legacy, although widely unknown, remains contested to this day.Unfortunately, much of his vast corpus has never been translated, and little of it is known in the English-speaking world.Bernstein was one of the most prolific writers among the socialist intellectuals of his time.A complete-works edition, including his extensive journalistic output and unpublished manuscripts, would comprise at least twenty-five sizeable volumes.Such an edition remains a desideratum.In this monumental new biography, Klaus Leesch challenges the many legends and myths surrounding Bernstein's life and work.He presents the historical facts concerning the life and work of his subject in more than 1,000 pages, across two volumes.The author has scrutinized all the available material on Bernstein, visited all the archives, examined all the publications by and about Bernstein, and studied his written legacy, including his unpublished papers and extensive correspondence.In sixteen chapters and one excursus, he follows the main stages of Bernstein's long life, beginning with his childhood and youth in Berlin and ending with his final years as a respected elder statesman of German social democracy.He concludes with a chapter on Bernstein's legacy and its impact on the international socialist movement and Marxist tradition.Bernstein's career started from humble origins.However, as the son of a large Jewish family of modest means, he nonetheless enjoyed a good school education, although he had to leave the gymnasium without getting his high school diploma.For three years, he trained as a bank clerk and afterwards worked as a banker in the S&L Rothschild Bank in Berlin, for several years, learning a great deal about banking and the day-today business of the booming and rapidly developing capitalist economy in Germany during the 1870s, the period known as the Grnderzeit.During this time, he came into contact with radical students and working-class socialists.As early as 1872, at the age of twenty-two, he became a member of the Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei (SDAP, Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany).He soon became acquainted with August Bebel, Ignaz Auer, Wilhelm Liebknecht, and other leading SDAP members.Before long, he became a seasoned and widely

Oral health is critical for overall health and well-being, especially in older people. However, the frequency of dental visits tends to decrease as individuals age. In contrast, frail older people who are less likely to visit the dentist, increasingly rely on medical care, such as the general medical practitioner (GP). There is a lack of quick and efficient screening tools for GPs to assess the risk of oral health deterioration. This study aims to develop a short screening tool to provide GPs with a quick, easy-to-use tool to predict oral health deterioration in older people, enabling timely referral and intervention when needed. The study consisted of three phases. In phase 1, the research team preliminary selected themes and items based on their predictive value, following a prior systematic review. In phase two the English self-reporting items were translated into Dutch, following cross-cultural adaptation guidelines. In phase 3 a panel of experts was selected and a Delphi method was conducted to develop the SHORT screening tool. The preliminary selection resulted in thirteen self-reporting items. Translation and back-translation proceeded without difficulties. The Delphi panel included 10 healthcare professionals and consisted of three rounds, after which consensus was achieved for the inclusion of three self-reporting items in the tool (100% agreement; median score = 5; IQR = 0). The SHORT screening tool was developed, including a preliminary selection of items, translation, and the Delphi method, which was successful in achieving consensus. Further research is recommended to validate and test the psychometric properties of this newly developed screening tool. - The SHORT tool provides a quick, three-item screening method for general practitioners to identify older people at risk for oral health deterioration, enabling timely referrals. - It addresses the lack of practical oral health assessment tools tailored for non-oral health professionals. - The SHORT tool was developed through expert consensus and is ready for further validation.

Abstract The defeat of the last colonial war that the Netherlands suffered by the middle of the twentieth century did not mean that the usual bonus for victory had to be paid by the loser. Willem Drees, leader of the Dutch Labor Party and nominated as prime minister, was the main protagonist in the course of events. In addition to his pivotal role in the negotiations with the Indonesian Republic, his main aim on the home front was to promote the social-democratic agenda which implied the protection and advocacy of labor rights in the early built up of a welfare state. This began in 1947 with the introduction of an emergency act providing a.state pension for impoverished workers at old age. But the spread of welfarism in the Netherlands intensified the indigence suffered by Indonesia’s laboring classes proletarianized in the colonial era.